Glossary

An intermediary is a reinsurance broker who negotiates contracts of reinsurance on behalf of the reinsured, usually with those reinsurers that recognize brokers and pay them commissions on reinsurance premiums ceded. The intermediary also acts as a conduit through which communications between the insurer and reinsurer are passed, including the payment of premiums by the reinsured to the reinsurer and the collection of losses for the reinsured from the reinsurer.

An intermediary clause is a provision in reinsurance agreements that identifies the intermediary negotiating the agreement. Most intermediary agreements shift all credit risk to reinsurers by providing that the cedent's payments to the intermediary are deemed payments to the reinsurer, and the reinsurer's payments to the intermediary are not payments to the cedent until actually received by the cedent. This clause is mandatory in some states.

Intermodal involves the use of more than one mode or type of transportation for the journey—for example, motor, rail, air, or ocean.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 replaced the inefficient "bingo card program" with the more streamlined "single state registration system" (SSRS). This act has subsequently been replaced by later motor carrier regulation.

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) is a plan involving a majority of the 48 contiguous states, most of which require interstate motor carriers to report how much fuel they use within the borders of their state for taxing purposes. Under the IFTA, such carriers may report fuel used in all such states to one base state. Each motor carrier must maintain a complete record of all fuel purchased and used in its operations, together with detailed mileage records on an individual vehicle basis. A state's fuel "use" tax enables it to assess highway user fees on all motor carriers that travel on its roads, not just those that purchase fuel within the state and pay the tax at the fuel pump.

The International Registration Plan (IRP) is an agreement that provides for the apportioned registration of commercial motor vehicles based on the total miles traveled in each jurisdiction. The IRP has emerged as the proration agreement mandated by the federal government under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. All US states except Alaska and Hawaii were required to become a member of the IRP by September 30, 1996, or forfeit their right to assess vehicle registration fees for interstate motor carriers registered in other states.

International Reverse Business is an insurance program arranged for a US subsidiary of a foreign-owned parent company. Also known as "reverse flow business."

The Internet of Things (IoT) collectively refers to the everyday devices that are connected in some way to the Internet. Many of these devices are referred to as "smart" devices: smartphones, smart homes (Internet-capable thermostats, appliances, and so on), smart televisions, and many more devices. Through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other means of wireless communication, users of smart devices are able to control them and oftentimes connect them functionally with other smart devices. Connections to the Internet allow these devices to track usage habits, provide helpful recommendations (e.g., a refrigerator that sends an alert to a homeowner's smartphone when a visit to the grocery store is needed), and generally offer users a more interactive and feature-rich experience.

Interpolicy stacking is one form of "stacking"—the aggregation of multiple insurance coverages or limits to cover a single loss. Attempts to "stack" coverage can be based on a theory that a party is entitled to coverage under more than one policy. This is called interpolicy stacking.

An interrogatory is a list of written questions about any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to claims and defenses at issue in the litigation submitted by one party (the plaintiff or the defendant) to the other party as part of the pretrial discovery process in a civil action. The recipient must answer the questions in writing, usually under oath within a specified period of time (for example, within 30 days after being served with the interrogatories). Answers to interrogatories are used to refine and clarify the issues and to focus on discrete theories and facts to develop the case for trial but cannot be used to elicit privileged information, such as communications between a party and its attorney.